Profiles

“It is a privilege to be here. Programming is something where you enter your code and — even if it’s small — you see the result instantly. It makes me happy to do it [coding] and it gives me confidence, like when I was in Turkey carrying out international business projects. It is hard to have that confidence here in Germany. But I really enjoy working with data. I won’t give up.”

- Gülsen Katmer

“I thought that having more concrete skills, like coding building websites would help me to have more freedom in my life. And I am really impressed with the amount of stuff I’ve learned here, because it’s not only learning the code, and programming, but also learning who programs what and learning about the community — that is huge. FrauenLoop is also a network. It’s filling a gap so that we can learn these skills, so that we can access these jobs."

- Léa Colson

"I had started teaching myself Java and doing an Android course by Google, when I joined FrauenLoop. After the first workshop, I went home happy, because I had really enjoyed it. I thought, ‘If I could stay longer, I would.' The main trouble I’ve had is to change my career path. I knew I didn’t want to do research anymore, and I realized that one of the most fun things I did in my studies was writing code.”

- Christina Galani

"I did not study computer science, but I worked at Vodafone with front-end templates and I was always interested to do more. I really like using CSS, and at FrauenLoop I have started with JavaScript. I want to understand how software companies work in Germany, how it is to specialise in front-end development. I don’t know others working in IT in Berlin: I am learning on my own, while my kids are small."

- Yasmine Fawzy

“I did my Bachelors degree in Computer Science, working with Photoshop and Corel - software that is old now, but fifteen years ago was cutting-edge in Syria. I always liked computers because they represent the future. In Aleppo, I was a trainer running the computer department at the college of agricultural engineering. I want to continue with FrauenLoop so I can broaden my social network and eventually teach again.”

- Nazek Aswed

“I’m originally from the Philippines and I worked as a journalist there for about ten years. It took me a long time to find data science because I just had no exposure to it. But I’m excited about data journalism: I think data analytics is agnostic in terms of which subjects and industries you can get into. To me, data science seems like the most fun and interesting - and more secure than other choices."

- Kay Alave

“I feel like I can do more. I’ve met a lot of people in tech and I like the conversations I’ve had with them so much that it changed a lot of the prejudices I had about the tech world. FrauenLoop has done so much to shape the attitude I have right now: the students, mentors, the interactions that I’ve had and the motivation that I get from this...I feel like I’m in school, but a super cool school that builds the skills - practical skills - that you would use in a tech career.”

- Alina Cucu

“I never thought I would be in this field, because I was always into education and non-profits. I was never technophobic, but now I see how everything is dependent on computers and IT. None of us Ethiopians in Israel is going to study computer science, because everyone wants to give back to the community: but there is more than one way to be a role model. I want to help people and to give back, but it doesn’t mean you can’t reinvent yourself.”

- Tikva Sendeke

“I took coding courses here and there, but for a long time, I was just remembering programming when I felt lost, or sad, or frustrated on my job. I thought, “I want to be more technical. FrauenLoop is an opportunity to be surrounded by like-minded people —even though we have different backgrounds. It’s an environment where you feel you are not less than someone else. I’m not judged and I am improving my skills.”

- Bamby Gassama

“I was 18 or 19 when I discovered that I loved programming. I studied it at university in Mosul, where we had around 30 or 40 percent women. I graduated in the top ten and then worked for two years as a web developer in the department of municipalities & public works before I left Iraq. So this is really important for me, to accept other people and to be accepted the way you are.”

- Marwa Ahmed

“I didn’t expect that the situation for women in Germany is worse than for women studying engineering in Damascus. For women, Damascus was way better than here. More women (there) are studying electrical engineering, and I was recognized as a technical engineer there. I was disappointed: in my masters program (here), we are four women: two from Iran, two from India, and me. No German women. Of eighty students, all the rest are men.”

- Maria Sadek

“FrauenLoop is a huge benefit for me, because with JavaScript and JQuery, I need something structured, and I need someone to push me, and to set goals, and give tips and support. For a lot of people, it’s late for a new start, but for me, it’s a new opportunity. I always thought that programming is somehow connected with mathematics, but it’s only logic!”

- Ivana Draco

“My job didn’t really show any prospects of growth, so I thought, “I need to make a switch.” It was always pretty balanced (programming) back at home, because it’s India…even though I’m a career-changer, and that’s not typical at all in India. I studied commerce, and I’m interested in data analysis, but I also spent a couple of months learning Angular, JQuery and Javascript.”

- Niyati Jasani

“I studied for five years in college, then became an engineer for quality and controlling, but then I married and had kids, and there were no opportunities to work as an engineer. And then came the revolution and we had to leave. I see FrauenLoop as an opportunity to get back into engineering in Berlin, because it is something I take really seriously.”